


Lost in Translation

by PhazonFire



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Based on my actual extremely limited knowledge of the French language, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, I don't speak French for shit please don't sue me, Kalosians are French, Learning French, M/M, a happy, diodeshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 07:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11641416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhazonFire/pseuds/PhazonFire
Summary: Clemont gives Ash a crash course in basic French.





	Lost in Translation

**Author's Note:**

> I only speak Spanish please let me live

“Okay, I think I got it this time; _parlez-vous frances_?”

“ _Parlez-vous_ francais, and apparently you do not,” Clemont teased, poking Ash’s nose playfully. 

“Man, this is hard,” Ash groaned, skimming the pages of a worn-out Introduction to French book Bonnie had lent him. “How come you don’t just, y’know, say all the letters? Why just some of ‘em?”

“For linguistic accuracy, of course,” Clemont replied halfheartedly, mentally debating how Ash was ever going to learn to conjugate verbs at this rate. “Are you sure you’re up for this? French can be a bit rough to learn. We could start with something easier, like--”

“Of course not! If you can speak French, I wanna learn how to speak it too. Besides, Serena says that French is the language of love. I dunno what that means, but it sounds special!”

“Well, technically, it is a romance language. Anyway, how are you with the basics so far?”

“ _Tres bien_ ,” Ash replied confidently, beaming at his newfound multilingual abilities. Clemont smiled, nodding his head in approval. Considering Ash’s sudden obsession with becoming bilingual had only begun last night over a discussion of Clemont’s ability to speak French, he was making surprising progress with the simpler side of the language. Being fluent, Clemont knew proficiency would take Ash quite awhile, but for someone with no foreign language background, his efforts were definitely impressive. 

“And have you gotten the hang of any basic phrases yet?”

“Uh...oh, I know how to say “thank you”. I think.”

“Alright, let’s hear it.”

“It’s _gracias_ , right? Please tell me I’m right.”

Clemont stifled a giggle. “Who told you that?”

“Bonnie did, actually. She said it would impress you,” he muttered with a slight blush. 

“That’s a different language entirely, Ash. The word you’re looking for is “ _merci_ ”.”

“Mercy?”

“Close, but pronounced a bit differently. _Merci_.”

“ _Merci_? Like that?”

“Perfect! _Je vous en prie_.”

Ash blinked. “ _Je_ what?”

Clemont grinned. “It means “you’re welcome,” love.”

“Oh! That reminds me. What’s the way to say “I love you” in French?”

“Ash, shouldn’t we work on the basics first before we get into stuff like that?”

“But I really wanna know, Clemont! Pleeeease?”

Clemont could feel his face getting hot, both from the request and from the pitiful yet adorable expression Ash always made when he wanted something. “I-I don’t know…”

Ash tilted his head. “ _S'il vous plaît_?” 

Clemont had no choice--cute Kanto boys speaking French was not something that slipped past him unnoticed. “Fine, fine. But after that, we’re going straight to numbers.”

“I know those! _Un, deux, trois_...uh...well, I know some of them.”

“Anyway, there’s a formal way and an informal way, Ash.”

“Even just to say “I love you”? That’s complicated,” Ash complained, setting his half-mutilated French book on the grass beside him. 

“It’s not so bad. Here, if you want to try, the formal one is “ _je vous aime_ ”.”

“ _Je...je vous amour_?”

“Close, but wrong conjugation. _Je vous aime_.”

“That one’s a mouthful. What’s the informal one? They’re always way easier.”

“ _Je t’aime_.”

Ash smiled softly, closing his eyes and testing the feeling of the words on his tongue for the first time. “Can you run that one by me again?”

“ _Je t’aime_ ,” Clemont repeated. “This one shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I know, but...one more time?”

“ _Je t’aime_ ,” Clemont repeated once more. “Are you having trouble with this one?”

“Nahh, I got it the first try. I just like hearing you say it to me,” Ash murmured. 

Clemont’s heart skipped a beat. “Y-You wanna try it?”

Without hesitation, Ash rested his head against Clemont’s shoulder. “ _Je t’aime_ , Clemont,” he whispered. 

Despite his ever-increasing blush, Clemont was impressed. “T-That was perfect,” he stuttered. “How come t-the others aren’t that easy for you?”

Ash wrapped his fingers around Clemont’s half-heartedly, nuzzling his face against Clemont’s. “Because that one’s my favorite.”


End file.
